Antares Therapeutics Launches with $177 Million to Develop First-in-Class Precision Medicines for Cancer and Other Serious Diseases
Antares is a spin-out of Scorpion Therapeutics, Inc. ('Scorpion'), which sold its mutant-selective PI3Kα inhibitor program, STX-478, to Eli Lilly and Company ('Lilly') in March 2025 for up to $2.5 billion in total consideration. Scorpion was founded in 2020 and, in the subsequent five years, raised a total of $420 million in financing, executed partnerships with multiple pharmaceutical companies, and generated six development candidates, three of which are in clinical testing. Antares is led by Scorpion's former executive leadership team and is advancing a pipeline of small molecule assets developed at Scorpion, including programs in precision oncology and other therapeutic areas, as well as programs initiated through Scorpion's 2022 transcription factor collaboration with AstraZeneca.
'We took our name from Antares, the brightest star in the Scorpius constellation, and known as 'the heart of the Scorpion.' We are building from a strong foundation with a team of experts who are experienced in making new medicines, as well as proprietary drug discovery capabilities and a robust preclinical pipeline fueled by discoveries in drugging previously inaccessible targets,' said Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Antares and former Chief Executive Officer of Scorpion. 'We are committed to leveraging our expertise to address well-validated, first-in-class targets across oncology and other serious diseases, and to continuing to execute a fast-to-clinic strategy to bring medicines to patients in need.'
'At Omega, we focus on identifying approaches and working with exceptional teams to deliver impactful products to patients,' said Otello Stampacchia, Ph.D., Founder and Managing Director at Omega Funds. 'Antares meets each of these criteria. As one of the founding investors in Scorpion, we have had the opportunity to follow the company's evolution very closely and have been consistently impressed by the breadth of the team's capabilities, as well as their scientific rigor and rapid execution. I look forward to seeing the company's vision advance by delivering differentiated, first-in-class products to treat some of the most important unmet medical needs.'
Additionally, Antares announced that Pierre Fabre Laboratories, with whom Scorpion previously partnered to advance two clinical-stage, highly selective next-generation mutant EGFR inhibitors for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, has acquired global rights to both programs. Under the terms of the agreement, Pierre Fabre Laboratories will lead the continued clinical development and global commercialization of both programs, and Antares will be eligible to receive regulatory and commercial milestones and tiered royalties.
Antares' leadership team
Antares is led by the former Scorpion executive team, including leaders with accomplished track records in the biotechnology industry:
Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Natasja Brooijmans, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Discovery Predictive Sciences
Mark Chao, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer
Andrew Fedder, General Counsel
Angel Guzman-Perez, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Head of Chemistry
Erica Jackson, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer
Darrin Stuart, Ph.D., Chief Development Officer
Amanda Valentino, Chief People Officer
The company's Board of Directors are industry veterans with company-building expertise, as well as experience pioneering breakthrough medicines:
Jeff Albers, J.D., M.B.A., Board Chair at Antares Therapeutics and Venture Partner at Atlas Venture
Shelley Chu, M.D., Ph.D., Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners
Keith Flaherty, M.D., Director of Clinical Research at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Professor at Harvard Medical School
Jean-François Formela, M.D., Partner at Atlas Venture
Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Antares Therapeutics
Sir Menelas Pangalos, Ph.D., formerly Executive Vice President of Biopharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca
'After years of investment into its proprietary drug discovery capabilities, the team at Antares has made notable progress to unlock the therapeutic potential of targets long seen as important – but undruggable – like the large class of transcription factors,' said Sir Menelas Pangalos, Ph.D., independent member of the Antares Board. 'I look forward to partnering with the Antares team as they address some of the most complex challenges in science.'
'Antares will build on what Scorpion started: combining cutting edge computational and experimental chemistry and biology with laser-focused clinical development,' said Keith Flaherty, M.D., Director of Clinical Research at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. "This team has demonstrated an ability to break through longstanding limits in medicinal chemistry to advance a pipeline of first-in-class assets, aiming to change the treatment landscape for patients.'
About Antares Therapeutics
Antares Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing transformational, first-in-class precision medicines with a focus on validated, undruggable targets in cancer and other serious diseases with large unmet need. Antares' most advanced program is expected to enter the clinic in 2026, with multiple additional programs in preclinical development. To learn more, visit www.antaresrx.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Seagate Stock Skyrockets 80% in 2025. Here's Why STX Might Still Be a Steal
Seagate Technology (STX) has been one of the top-performing S&P 500 Index ($SPX) stocks of 2025. It has soared over 80% year-to-date. This significant rally is supported by the solid demand for the company's products, increased investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, its improving leverage profile, and improved profitability. Seagate is seeing surging demand for its mass-capacity storage products. As cloud computing expands and data centers scale up to support AI applications, the demand for high-capacity hard drives continues to soar. Seagate is well-positioned to capitalize on this opportunity. Its products have become essential for hyperscale cloud providers and enterprises alike, making it a natural beneficiary of the AI-driven data explosion. More News from Barchart Warren Buffett Warns Investing At 'Too-High Purchase Price' Even for 'an Excellent Company' Can Undo a Decade of Smart Investing Why Archer Aviation's (ACHR) Post-Earnings Tailspin Looks Like a Favorably Mispriced Opportunity BitMine Immersion Now Holds 1.15 Million Ethereum Tokens. Should You Buy BMNR Stock Here? Stop Missing Market Moves: Get the FREE Barchart Brief – your midday dose of stock movers, trending sectors, and actionable trade ideas, delivered right to your inbox. Sign Up Now! The company's financials reflect the solid demand trends. Seagate recently closed fiscal 2025 on a solid note. Revenue surged 39% in fiscal 2025, adjusted gross profit nearly doubled, and operating profit more than tripled. This solid performance is driven by its supply-demand alignment, tight cost controls, and a focus on high-value products. Quarterly performance has been just as impressive. In the most recent fiscal fourth quarter, revenue jumped 30% year-over-year, while adjusted gross margin expanded 170 basis points sequentially. This sustained improvement reflects the company's shift toward a build-to-order (BTO) manufacturing model, supply discipline, and dynamic pricing strategies, all of which have helped the company maintain profitability even in competitive markets. Seagate Is in a Solid Growth Phase Seagate is in a solid growth phase, with no signs of losing momentum. It continues to see strong demand for its products, a trend that is expected to drive both its financials and share price higher. Management is optimistic about margin expansion, thanks to the accelerating adoption of its next-generation Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR)–based Mozaic drives. Looking ahead, mass capacity storage remains a key growth driver. Seagate is ramping production of its HAMR-based Mozaic products and gaining traction with customers at an impressive pace. Three major cloud service providers have already qualified these drives, with more customers moving through the qualification process smoothly. Demand from cloud providers is surging, and even the enterprise OEM market is showing signs of life, with nearline sales posting modest sequential gains. Management expects this demand to hold steady in the months ahead. The company's BTO strategy provides visibility into solid future sales and margins, strengthening confidence in ongoing demand for its high-capacity nearline drives. Seagate is also navigating global challenges well. By diversifying its manufacturing footprint and supply chains, Seagate is mitigating risks from evolving trade policies and tariffs, minimizing any potential impact on operations or results. Financially, Seagate is also making meaningful progress in fortifying its balance sheet. As of the end of June, the company had reduced its debt to $5 billion. Strong profitability combined with lower debt has brought its net leverage ratio down to 1.8 times. With profit expansion expected in the coming quarter, further improvement in leverage is on the horizon. STX Stock Looks Attractive on Valuation Seagate stock has appreciated significantly so far this year. However, it offers significant value near the current price levels. The company is poised to benefit from the strong long-term demand for mass data storage, driven by cloud providers and edge IoT customers ramping up investments in AI-powered initiatives. Despite these tailwinds, STX shares remain relatively inexpensive. Currently, Seagate is trading at a forward price-earnings ratio of just 16.8x. The stock looks too cheap to ignore, considering its growth prospects. Analysts project earnings per share (EPS) to jump by 24.1% in fiscal 2026 and another 29.4% in 2027, suggesting that the market may not yet be fully pricing in Seagate's potential. STX Stock Is a Steal Right Now Seagate's remarkable surge in 2025 has kept analysts cautiously optimistic about its prospects. However, strong demand for its high-capacity storage products, growing traction for HAMR-based Mozaic drives, a healthier balance sheet, and low valuation could keep Seagate's momentum going. On the date of publication, Amit Singh did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on
Miami Herald
07-08-2025
- Miami Herald
New space stock turns heads with $10 billion IPO surprise
Retail investors and institutions alike can shake on their mutual adoration of space stocks. This year, names like Rocket Lab (RKLB) , Planet Labs (PL) and BlackSky (BKSY) have soared 858%, 212% and 137% over the last year, respectively. And even newcomers Karman Holdings (KRMN) and Voyager Technologies (VOYG) nearly doubled in their February and June IPOs. With returns like that, it's no wonder companies aiming at the final frontier are angling to plant their flag on Wall Street. And Thursday, market newcomer Firefly Aerospace (FLY) is poised to do exactly that as it IPOs. The firm sought a $6.3 billion valuation in its market debut, based on the top-of-the-range price that the company settled on earlier this week. The upsized IPO raised $868 million. However, in an indication of the still-strong demand for space stocks, the company opened much higher. Instead of the the $45 per share offering price, the company opened at about $70. At that price, the company would be valued closer to $10 billion. Firefly has generated most of its revenues from its Blue Ghost lunar lander, which became the first commercial lunar lander to land on the Moon in Mar. 2025. The company recently scored a new $179 million agreement with NASA for a 2028 mission. This puts the company apart from SpaceX and Rocket Lab. However, its real promise is in one day competing with them. At the end of Q1 2025, its customer backlog surpassed $1.1 billion, doubling from last year, as it scored partnerships with key defense contractors for missions. At the moment, the company has at least 25 launches lined up with Lockheed Martin (LMT) and an agreement to help Northrop Grumman (NOC) retrofit American engines onto their decades-old Antares rocket. It also has deals with the Pentagon and the U.S. Space Force, among others. While Firefly's year-over-year revenue rose over 6x to $55.9 million, its net loss widened year-over-year to $60.1 million. That means that Firefly still isn't making money, and it might be awhile before it does. That hasn't been an object for other spacefaring competition so far, but there are many tombstones for one-time space listings that soared onto market, only to face the punishing one-two blow of less market speculation and higher interest rates in 2021 and 2022. Further, investors should be a little wary of the company's cap table. Closely-held by a private equity group, the firm's S-1 filing warns that the business will remain a "controlled company." That could make it resistant to changes, shareholder input or other factors. But for those willing to put aside the company's ownership concentration, its cap table is still something of a spectacle. Earlier this year, key partners such as Lockheed Martin, L3Harris (LHX) and Northrop Grumman invested $50 million in the company. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Business Wire
07-08-2025
- Business Wire
Strand Therapeutics Raises $153 Million Series B Financing to Further Advance Programmable mRNA Therapeutic Pipeline
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Strand Therapeutics, a leader in next-generation mRNA-based therapeutics, today announced $153M Series B funding led by Kinnevik, with new investors Regeneron Ventures, ICONIQ, Amgen Ventures, Alderline Group (the family office of Alex Gorsky), JIC-VGI, LG Technology Ventures, and Gradiant Corporation, with continued participation from existing investors including FPV Ventures, Playground Global, Eli Lilly and Company, ANRI, and Potentum. To date, Strand has raised over $250M. As part of the financing, Ala Alenazi, Ph.D., of Kinnevik, will join the company's Board of Directors. 'We believe programmable RNA is the next frontier in therapeutics, and Strand has built the leading platform to unlock it.' Share The funding will advance Strand's pipeline, led by STX-001, a programmable mRNA therapy that expresses the cytokine interleukin-12 (IL-12) directly from the tumor microenvironment. The company recently announced promising initial Phase 1 clinical data for patients with advanced solid tumors at the 2025 ASCO annual meeting, noting multiple RECIST responses (including cases of complete response and complete metabolic response), multiple cases of prolonged disease stabilization, and a favorable safety profile in treatment-resistant patients. Earlier this year, Strand also presented preclinical data for STX-003, a world-first systemically administrable mRNA therapy with tumor targeting that is programmed to avoid off-target payload delivery (including liver avoidance), showing the first glimpse into the massive potential of their programmable mRNA genetic circuits. Data presented at the 2025 AACR and ASGCT annual meetings demonstrated the candidate's potential to target expression of IL-12 to tumors following systemic administration of the LNP-mRNA drug, creating an effective anti-tumor therapy that was well tolerated. IL-12 is a potent pro-inflammatory cytokine primarily produced by antigen-presenting cells such as macrophages and dendritic cells. IL-12 holds significant promise in cancer immunotherapy due to its robust immunostimulatory effects. STX-001 encodes IL-12 which Strand has designed so that it can reprogram the tumor microenvironment and stimulate a systemic anti-tumor immune response. Unlike traditional mRNA therapies, Strand's approach uses self-replicating mRNA, ensuring localized and durable therapeutic activity. 'We believe programmable RNA is the next frontier in therapeutics, and Strand has built the leading platform to unlock it,' said Christian Scherrer, Senior Investment Director and Head of Health and Bio at Kinnevik. 'Their early clinical data is outstanding, and the systemic delivery capability has the potential to reshape how we treat disease, starting with cancer, with more disease targets on the horizon. We look forward to partnering with founders Jake and Tasuku and the entire team as they move into this next phase of growth. ' 'With support from our investors, we're advancing our vision of developing safe, effective, and accessible therapies through programmable genetic medicines, especially for those patients with few treatment options,' said Jake Becraft, PhD, CEO and Co-founder of Strand Therapeutics. 'Our initial STX-001 Phase 1 data provides early and strong clinical validation of our platform's capabilities. We have observed systemic immune activation and anti-tumor responses, including responses in non-injected lesions, across multiple tumor types. Now is an exciting period of expansion for our existing clinical work, as well as the exciting breakthrough assets in our pipeline, all with the potential to transform the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases.' Strand's proprietary platform for programmable and potent mRNA therapeutics is the first of its kind. Its therapies combine best-in-class engineered next-generation mRNA modalities, such as self-replicating mRNA and circular RNA, with genetically programmed logic circuits, allowing for precise, controlled therapeutic payload delivery directly into the cells/tissues themselves. The novel approach brings the potential to effectively treat cancer and other deadly chronic diseases through its targeted therapies that are scalable, accessible, and expand the treatment landscape for patients desperately in need. About STX-001 STX-001 is an investigational multi-mechanistic, synthetic self-replicating mRNA technology that expresses an IL-12 cytokine for an extended period of time, directly administered to tumors in order to promote immune modulation and antitumor activity. The company received IND clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2023 to initiate a Phase 1/2 clinical trial for STX-001, announced its first patient dosed just before the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting, and presented the first data of the trial at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting. Additional details can be found at using identifier: NCT06249048. About Strand Therapeutics Strand Therapeutics is leading the next generation of programmable mRNA therapies: where synthetic biology meets programmable biology to unlock the full potential of gene regulation and delivery inside the body. Unlike traditional mRNA technologies, Strand's platform programs RNA to think, enabling logic-controlled expression, precision delivery, and unprecedented control over therapeutic outcomes. Born out of MIT and led by world-class synthetic biologists, Strand is building the infrastructure to create medicines that respond to disease signals in real-time. With its computationally-driven design engine, self-amplifying/circular RNA modalities, and mRNA-only genetic circuits, the company is pioneering a new therapeutic modality poised to disrupt immuno-oncology, cell therapy, autoimmune diseases, and beyond. Strand's lead pipeline program, STX-001, is already in the clinic showing unprecedented response rates in late stage 'salvage' cancer patients, with multiple patients showing RECIST responses. Strand's modular platform opens a broad horizon of partnership and licensing opportunities. Strand isn't just another mRNA company: it's the operating system for the programmable medicines of tomorrow. Follow us on LinkedIn and on X at @strandtx.
